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Tomkins Tops Independence Day Card; Suprick Wins 9th On Patriot Tour CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (July 2) – Gary Tomkins was able to pick up his fourth DIRT Modified feature victory of the year on Saturday at Canandaigua Speedway. Tomkins, Steve Paine and Vic Coffey have completely dominated the speedway over the last year and a half. In Sportsman action, Scott Schrader finally returned to victory lane for his 12th career win at the “Land of Legends”. Schrader, who had quit racing for a number of years before returning to drive last year, scored his last win at the speedway on September 12, 1992. In full fender action, Chad Homan (Pro Stock) and Blane Smith (Street Stock) each picked up their fourth win of the year at the speedway in their respective 15-lap features. Also on hand was the popular Patriot Sprint Group with George Suprick taking the 20-lap A-Main. Ron Cartwright Jr. powered into the lead at the drop of the green to begin the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature. As the field was completing the first lap, Darryl Ruggles and Chuck Bower made contact resulting in the first yellow flag of the race for Ruggles’ collapsed front end, although he was still able to swerve into the infield grass without making contact with any other car. Also off the track in the third turn was multi-time feature winner Steve Paine. He was able to pull back onto the racing surface and continue with the race. Cartwright Jr. maintained his lead on the restart with Justin Haers right on his rear bumper. Haers made the move to the inside of the fourth turn on lap three to complete his pass for the lead as Cartwright drifted very high. Once out front Haers tried to pull away from the rest of the field, but moving in on the leaders was Chad Brachmann. Brachmann took over second from Cartwright on lap five and set his sights on Haers. His task was made somewhat easier when Vic Coffey slowed on the back stretch with a flat tire. Another yellow flew for a spin on the restart yet once underway Brachmann moved into the lead and began to stretch out his advantage. Gary Tomkins was now third and looked to have one of the fastest cars on the track. Tomkins powered by Haers and started to close in on Brachmann ever so slowly while Haers dropped back into a battle with Todd Burley and Steve Paine. Up front Tomkins caught Bachmann in lap traffic by lap 24, pulling high yet failing to complete his pass. But three laps later Tomkins ducked low under Brachmann exiting the second corner and this time made it stick. The yellow flew for the final time on lap 30 when Mike Ward coasted to a stop high in the fourth turn. Tomkins romped home with the $2,000 feature win followed by Paine, Burley, Brachmann and Charlie Donk. Both Paine and Burley passed Brachmann on the final lap down the front stretch. The 20-lap Paine Motorsports Sportsman feature also got off to a rocky start when Dan Wiesner saw his left front wheel pass him down the back stretch. The wheel had come off following turn two contact and Wiesner was towed off the track and the race restarted. Gus Hurlburt took command of the lead with Steve Doell in second mounting an early challenge. In third was last week’s feature winner Paul Guererri, who ducked low on Doell and took second on lap seven following a side-by-side duel. Doell saw his great run end after contact with a lapped car on lap eight, spinning in the second turn as a result. In an attempt to restart, newcomer Francisco Pereira spun in the fourth turn. Finally underway, Hurlburt remained in the lead but Schrader had moved quickly into contention after previously restarting in fourth. Schrader completed his pass for the lead on lap 10 and the yellow flag flew again for Eric Heffernan who had spun in the fourth turn. Another caution period came on the restart when Mike Murphy, Rick Miller, Tom Jansch and Frank Wadsworth were all involved in a third turn wreck. Once under way, Schrader was able to stretch out a substantial led while Hurlburt lost second to Guererri with just six laps remaining. Hurlburt held on for third at the finish followed by Doell and Kevin Ridley, driving his “crate motor” into fifth. Exhibiting a true act of sportsmanship in putting others before him after the race, 11th-place finisher Pereira donated his entire winnings to the Canandaigua Speedway “Kids Club” fund. The Big Mike's Auto Repair Pro Stock finale opened with John Rutkowski taking the lead before the yellow lights flashed on the first circuit. Daryl Hilkert and Jipp Ortiz had locked together on the back stretch and both returned at the back of the field. Once under way the race remained green and ran non-stop until the end. Rutkowski lost his lead to James Henry on the restart and Homan moved in to challenge Henry immediately after. Homan completed the pass for first on lap four and led the rest of the way, beating Henry to the finish line by nearly a full second. Hilkert, Ortiz and Rutkowski rounded out the top-five. “The only way I was going to make it was on the high side,” commented Homan in victory lane. “I think if (Henry) had been able to put up more of a challenge I still had enough left for him.” The 15-lap Parts Plus Auto Stores Street Stock main was riddled with yellow flags. Three different leaders were on record. Brad Steinruck led laps one to three before Nick Dandino made the pass for the lead. Dandino led until lap eight when Smith took command of the front spot for good on a restart. Smith came home the feature winner for the second straight week, out-distancing top-five finishers Dandino, Mike Welch, Steve Faulkner and Nathan Peckham. Pennsylvanian George Suprick took the lead immediately from his front row starting position to begin the Patriot Sprint 20-lap A-Main. Suprick found himself challenged by former DIRT Modified runners Chuck Hebing and Rich Swarthout at the drop of the green. Hebing slipped under Suprick on lap seven when Suprick drifted too high in the first turn and looked to have the field covered, pulling away to a five car advantage with Swarthout challenging for second ahead of Canadian Rick Wilson. On lap 17, Hebing made contact with Craig Lane as he was trying to lap the Lane machine. Both cars spun in the second turn and allowed Suprick to inherit the lead. This incident marked the only yellow flag in the 20-lap feature. Suprick led the field home with his ninth career Patriot A-Main victory while Wilson, Swarthout, Bryan Howland and Bobby Breen rounded out the top-five. It was also Suprick’s second victory at Canandaigua this year as he also won the PSG finale back on Memorial Day Weekend. It will be Kid’s Night on Saturday, July 9 at Canandaigua Speedway, featuring a four-star program of DIRT Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stock and Street Stock action. Track Promoter Jeff Farney is currently searching for Black Rock Super Stock teams to join in with the Pro Stocks in efforts to increase car counts in that division. Race time on Saturday will be at 7 p.m. sharp. The DIRT MotorSports™ Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Dynomax Performance Exhaust, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional Partners include Stacker 2®, AMB i.t., RACEceiver, Zippo Lighters and F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the contingency sponsors are DART Machinery, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries. HELUVA GOOD FOOD PRODUCTS NIGHT SUMMARY PARTS PLUS AUTO STORES STREET STOCK HEAT 1: M. Schultz, L. Lewis, N. Rizzo, M. Welch, S. Smith. FEATURE (15-laps): BLANE SMITH, Nick Dandino, Mike Welch, Steve Faulkner, Nat Peckham, Adam DePuy, Scott Smith, Frank Burnell, Nick Rizzo, Mike Schultz, Vance Vanderwall, Don Whiteside, Kevin Collins, Mike Rasbeck, Darren Phippen, Chris Jacobs, Charlie Vohs, George LaVare Sr., Brad Steinruck, Mike Minutolo, Chris Sealy, Leroy Lewis, DNS: Tony Pangrazio. BIG MIKE'S AUTO REPAIR PRO STOCK HEAT: D. Hilkert, J. Ortiz, J. Rutkowski, J. Henry. FEATURE (15-laps): CHAD HOMAN, James Henry, Daryl Hilkert, Jipp Ortiz, John Rutkowski, Matt Grubbe, Bill Hallett. PAINE MOTORSPORTS SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: G. Hurlburt, P. Guererri, S. Schrader, K. Ridley, M. Johnson, B. Pangrazio. FEATURE (25-laps): SCOTT SCHRADER, Paul Guererri, Gus Hurlburt, Steve Doell, Kevin Ridley, Loren Lincoln, Ricky VanNeil, Justin Henderson, Mike Johnson, Rob Bussey, Francisco Pereira, Eric Giguere, Bernie Pangrazio, Mike Murphy, Tom Jansch, Rick Miller, Eric Heffernan, Frank Wadsworth, Dan Wiesner. ADVANCE AUTO PARTS DIRT MODIFIED HEAT 1: K. Comfort, C. Bower, V. Coffey, R. Bliss, C. Donk, J. Pfeffer. FEATURE (35-laps): GARY TOMKINS, Steve Paine, Todd Burley, Chad Brachmann, Charlie Donk, Justin Haers, Chuck Bower, Stewart Friesen, Karl Comfort, Ray Bliss, Mike Bliss, Eldon Payne Jr., Shannon Whaley, Scott Boudinot, John Pfeffer, Mike Ward, Vic Coffey, Ron Cartwright Jr., Jeff Brownell Jr., Todd Henderson, Don Slover, Steve Pesarek, Darryl Ruggles. PATRIOT SPRINT GROUP HEAT 1: G. Suprick, B. Coffey, T. Zimbardi, C. Muhleisen, J. Barnard, J. Smith. B-MAIN (10-laps): K. Drum, Bl. Breen, T. Wickham, G. Quackenbush A-MAIN (20-laps): GEORGE SUPRICK, Rick Wilson, Rich Swarthout, Bryan Howland, Bobby Breen, Jared Zimbardi, Billy Coffey, John Smith, Geoff Quackenbush, Tim Zimbardi, Tom Wickham, Don Adamczyk, Dave Schultz, Chris Muhleisen, Jeremy Barnard, Ken Swan, Chuck Hebing, Craig Lane, Kyle Drum, Blake Breen, George Ely, Kyle Wilson. |